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Awardees Stories
Our 2020 Awardees
ROB has so far funded over 100 students and we look forward to supporting many more in the future.
We would like to introduce you to a few of our rising star awardees who since completing their training have continued to progress their careers.
Our Latest Awardees and Programs
The Mountain Lioness Programme: Female Awardees 2020
Irene Maandi
Irene has been working on Kilimanjaro for 2 years with the Africa walking company (AWC). She has a very positive attitude and tireless energy to work hard and encourage others and succeed. Irene was inspired to pursue guiding as a career by her friend Pendael who is also a mountain guide working with AWC.
Lorren P Shoo
Lorren Penieli Shoo is 26. She has been working as a porter on Kilimanjaro since 2017 with various companies. She supplements her income by also working as a waitress when not portering. She loves working in tourism and it has been her dream to become a guide for some time.
Nambeke A. Kundara
Nambeke is an experienced Porter with a Sales and Marketing background. She has experience working in the Security industry with skills in Risk Management, Operations Management, Physical Security, Strategic Planning and Business Development. An independent, resourceful, self-confident individual with a natural ability to take decisions under pressure. She has an analytical approach to management and decision making. She is always smartly presentable and articulate with an ability to communicate clearly at all levels and across all cultures.
Elizabeth A. Laizer
Elizabeth is 33. She is a single mother of two children. She has been working in tourism in purchasing, sales and guiding. She is a hard worker and extremely motivated to now pursue a career as a mountain guide working on Kilimanjaro to help her responsibly raise her children.
Veronica I. Makini
Veronica is 27. As a child she had to stay at home and help her parents raise the family so was unable to go to secondary school. Since 2016 she has been working as a Porter in Mount Kilimanjaro. During the low season she goes to school to study English and now has her English Language certificate.
Kitaba Wadia
Kapanya
Kitaba spent 3 years working as a female porter summiting Kilimanjaro 20 times before training to become a professional Safari and Tour guide. She is a good listener with a great sense of humour and very people orientated. Her dream is to now become a mountain guide working on Mount Kilimanjaro and to help inspire other Tanzanian women to seek careers in tourism.
Lightness Samwel Laizer
Lightness is 21 years old. After a struggle to find funding she finally finished her secondary education in 2017. Since then she has continued to battle to find funding to study to pursue a career in tourism and has been working as porter on Kilimanjaro. She loves to work with people and share her experience and aspires to become a professional mountain guide to continue to do help people climbing and enjoy the mountain.
Irene Samson Moshi
Irene is 20 years old. She was born at Dareda Mission Hospital and raised at Moshi. She attended
Tanzania Adventist secondary school in Arusha. She fell in love with tourism and wildlife at the Prost Professional tour guide school.
She is an experienced porter having worked with several companies including Kilimanjaro Experts and
Ian Tylor Trekking. Irene also worked as secretary and housekeeper at Majengo Stationary and Mbugani Hotel.
She is very diligent person who can work in an adventurous environment like Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro and has the ability to communicate effectively at all levels and across all cultures.
Sintia Robi Mwita
Sintia is 37 years old. She is a single mother taking care of her two children. She is extremely hard working and hopes that by improving her knowledge and pursuing a career as a guide that she will be better able to support her family in the future
Sabrina Hassan
Sabrina Hassan is currently working as a female Tanzanian porter who has climbed Kilimanjaro 12 times. She is fluent in Swahili and English languages and has also studied for her certificate in wildlife tourism at Mweka college. She is a calm and adventurous young woman with great communication skills. Her love of nature and taste for adventure is driving her desire to pursue a career as a mountain guide
Experius Rwechangura
Experius is 34. He is married with one daughter living at a rental house in Arusha Tanzania. Coming from a big family who live simply by farming, studying was a challenge but he is very determined and successfully passed his certificate in tour guiding and hotel management. He has now been working for 4 years as a porter on Kilimanjaro. His passion is to become a licensed Mountain Guide and to motivate himself and others in the tourism industry.
Tuheri Daniel
Tuheri is 26. After completing secondary school he studied for a certificate in accountancy and a diploma in procurement and logistics management. From 2014 he worked voluntarily for Arusha District Council for one year, and then entered the tourism sector by working as a porter and tent attendant. His dream is to work in the tourism sector as a Mountain guide.
Male Awardees 2020
Oscar G. Mzava
Oscar is 30. After completing his secondary education he was unable to go to college as his father died. Since he has been working as a porter and helping his mother raise the family. Although it has been difficult for him to save money for his own needs he has a strong determination to become a mountain guide and to be in a better position to provide a better standard of living for his family.
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